Road Trip - Part 2

Haghartsin

Two of the big draws in the Dilijan area are monasteries. Just as the cathedrals in England each make a claim (Salisbury is tallest), each monastery makes a claim. Haghartsin, once a great center of learning, was in sorry shape until reconstruction of a new monastery began there about six years ago. The work has been a combination of new construction (for the new students) and partial reconstruction of the original complex.

Altar at Haghartsin

A glimpse into what was

 

900 yr old walnut tree with nearly as old visitor

Near the entrance is a walnut tree considered to be 900 years old. Women who wanted to have a baby came here and went through a highly prescribed ritual that involved squeezing through a crevice in the trunk. This process had an eerie similarity to the natural birth process and there were even special instructions about how to get free if you got stuck!



At the edge of Haghartsin is a tree loaded with what looks like rags. This is a custom that seems to be a cross between a prayer and a wish. Gotta love those pagan customs that have moved forward! Each rag represents one person's innermost hopes or dreams. It looks raggy on the outside, but my heart aches imagining what is behind each petition.


Goshavank -- our second monastery of the weekend --is unusual among Armenian monasteries in that it is not walled or set apart from the village of Gosh. In fact when our car pulled in we were in the midst of the village market, where we bought some dried thyme. Check out those cabbages--much bigger than your head!

Goshavank dates to the 12th C and is the place where Mkhitar Gosh first formally codified Armenian law, partly as a defense against Sharia law. I think Denise can now put on her resume that she has been here. Only the Armenian "in-crowd" will understand but it sure would be a talking point.

Khachkar by Poghos

Another thing Goshavank is known for is perhaps the finest or most delicate example of a khachkar (memorial stones, remember?). This was done by an artist whose work was so fine he was known as Poghos the Embroiderer. He carved twin stones for his parents. One remains at Goshavank and the other is in the National History Museum in Yerevan. This work is so fine that when I saw it, I gasped. I knew immediately it was by Poghos--the design literally jumps out of the stone.

The monastery was known for its 13th C library, which held 1600 volumes (remember folks, this was pre-printing press, so they were all hand-done, illuminated, etc.) when the Mongol invaders set it on fire a hundred years later. These were probably the same guys that did NOT burn down Noravank because of the fiery red stones in the canyon (see post from October 8--Wait--are we in Utah?). 

Looking at wool carders and looms

A friendly local lady sort of adopted us and walked us around, telling us about the history (including the fire, complete with sounds effects) entirely in Russian, but with great enthusiasm. She led us to a small museum of artifacts from the village and gave each of us a walnut to keep as a good luck charm. It's in my coat pocket for the winter and every time I touch it I think of her and her smile.

Lake Parz in autumn

Our plan before lunch was to walk through the woods to Lake Parz from Gosh Village, but negotiations with a local youth about showing us the path broke down rapidly because of language limitations and his demand for 8,000 AMD (about $20) to show us the way. Instead, our driver took us to the lake, which was indeed lovely and full of very noisy ducks. 

Jemima Puddleduck and her brood

A Soviet era restaurant still operates at the lake's edge.  Inflated rafts and paddle boats are available for rent. The restaurant was expecting a large group that day and wanted us to go away for an hour, they were that busy. But we persuaded them we would be happy with Spas (yogurt and bulghur soup that is the Armenian version of chicken-soup-good-for-you) and bread. They could handle that. And we were indeed happy with our lunch.